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Regional partnership signs seven-year deal with Kcom for east Midlands public services network covering local schools and councils

A regional partnership whose members include Lincolnshire county council has awarded Kcom a contract to build the core network infrastructure for the east Midlands public services network (emPSN).

Under the deal, worth around £100m, the telco will be expected to increase the reach of high capacity broadband networks and services, especially in rural areas. The service will initially cover around 1,700 schools, as well as the local authorities in the east Midlands.

The seven-year deal has a three-year extension option.

Kcom has also been awarded a positions on the emPSN framework agreement to provide access services for schools, as well as to supply application services in partnership with RM.

While the initial priority will be to transfer schools on the current East Midlands Broadband Consortium (embc) schools contract to the emPSN, the new contract is designed to cover a wider set of public sector needs than the previous arrangement.

The network transformation is timed to coincide with the expiry of the current embc contract at the end of October, which currently provides services for the schools in the east Midlands area through its prime contractor Synetrix Capita. The council decided that there would be greater benefits for the local public sector from implementing a PSN instead of retendering the schools network.

Mike Kendall, managing director of the emPSN, told Guardian Government Computing that the network would make savings, particularly as it will increase the number of exchanges.

While the network will initially cover schools in the area and seven councils, emPSN is currently in discussions with a police authority about joining the network. However, although there are a number of NHS organisations in the area that fall into the "limited infrastructure" category, there are no health authorities are currently participating in the contract, he said.

"There has been some discussion, but all they’ve said so far is, ‘Keep us involved, we’d like to know what is going on.’"

As the lead authority, Lincolnshire county council will have its requirements rolled out by end of October, with the network transferring over to "100% Kcom management" six months after, added Kendall.